Minor Heaven
by Drowning Fishy
Summary: This fic will be yaoi so if you don't like don't read-It was clear something was amiss when Heero arrived. The door to Duo's junkyard home was busted open. That wasn't the worse, there was a trail of blood that went down the stairs and cut off a few feet
1. Chapter 1

Okay this Story is called Minor Heaven. Of course it is an AMAZING song by Tarja Turunen just found it suiting for this fic. Yes, it will be yaoi, so yeah tuff luck.

Oh and flamers... BITE-ME!

Music listened to for inspiration:

1. /watch?v5lGkLDr29bg&featurerelated

2. /watch?v98gb9zF34BM&NR1

Of course DUH I don't own GW or anything else but the this FANFIC story I wrote.

Duo sighed as he balanced the phone on his shoulder. It was ten years after the war, five terrible years after the murder of Hilde. Duo was no longer the skinny short child he once was. His face more defined and masculine. Finely tuned muscled rippled when he moved years of junk yard work left him buffed. And the biggest change was he stood six foot four. The only thing that didn't change was the braid.

He'd be twenty-six tommarow

"No, I do not want to discuss the case any further with you, call me back when you for sure have a suspect." Duo growled cutting crust off of a sandwich and popping the crusts into his mouth. "Yeah, I'll do that, good bye."

"TRIO!" Duo yelled hanging up the phone. "Lunch is served, I have to work pretty soon, so hurry up come and eat."

After a moment of silence Duo looked around. Nothing responded to his calls. Sighing he picked up the plate his eyes closing as he held back his fustration. It was no good to take it out on someone not involved. Especially someone as sweet as Trio.

"Fine I'll feed it to the dog."

"We don't have a dog," Came a tiny voice by the fridge.

"There you are Trio... Then I'll feed it to the cat."

"We don't have a cat."

"Oui! I thought you had a pet?" Duo asked looking at the little girl that finially peeked around the corner. She was a mirror image of Hilde, but it was always his own eyes looking back at him. "Could have sworn we did."

"We a rat named NumNums silly." Trio giggled.

Smiling Duo watched as the small little girl entered the kitchen. She looked like a sprouting plant walking in. Her limbs were skinny along with her torso, also she was short for her age. However that was alright, Duo was short for his age for awhile before hormones kicked in. Trio would be turning six soon, and never in her life had Duo cut her hair.

And god forbid she keep shoes on her feet.

"Right, NumNums."

As he watched his daughter climb up on to the stool, something caught the ex 02's attention. The braided haired man's body tensed as he listened. Trying to grasp unto the one thing that remained just out side of his hearing. Oblivious to her fathers action she began eating her sandwhich. Slowly Duo moved away from the kitchen and limped towards the sliding doors that made up the dining room. Glancing out the doors, and careful not to be seen the ex-pilot scanned his surrounds.

There was no one, but something was amiss.

Calmly and stealthily the braided pilot strode over to the phone. Grabbing in he punched in numbers to a close friend. Pressing the phone to ear he listened to the ring. Growling lowly he prayed for the person on the other side to pick up. At the sound of the answering machine he cussed and punched in another number. God why did he insist on a old fashioned phone and not a vid phone.

To late.

Putting down the phone, Duo grabbed his daughter. She squealed as he sandwich fell to the floor. Opening up the door under the sink he shoved her in. His deep purplish eyes filled with worry and sincerity as he petted her hair.

"Trio stay in here, and DO NOT say a word no matter what happens." Duo ordered.

"But-"

"I love you Trio, and if you love me you will not say a thing." Duo said cutting her off.

Trio watched as her father closed the doors and used a child proof lock to hold her in. Moving aside the bottles of soap and the spare sponges she peeked through a crack in the wood that was made by her fathers foot years ago. It was a violent argument between husband and wife thankfully Trio was to young to remember.

Duo moved to clean up the sandwich as the door banged open. Trio jumped but didn't say anything as she watched some old fashioned military suited figures approach Duo. Almost cheerfully her father smiled at them. Even offering one of the partly eaten sandwich that had previously fallen on the floor. With out showing any emotions the invaders slapped the plate out of Duo's hand. It rattled quite loudly on the floor.

"Hey take it easy," Duo said a fake smile on his face.

"Search the house find and kill anyone you find." The one with sunglasses ordered.

"Hey, hey, theres no need for that," Duo said his back muscles rippling as he thought about Trio. "It's just me here."

The one with the sunglasses turned the gun to the side and used the butt of the gun to smack Duo in the face. The tall man took a few steps back but didn't fall. Trio watched as her father held the side of his face. The silence seemed to go on forever before the other military suited men came back. The ex 02 pilot laughed and shifted on his feet. What did he find so funny about this? But no, her fauthers voice didn't hold it's warm mirth.

"Theres evidence of a child living here but no sign of her."

The leader seemed to look directly at the little girl hiding under the sink. Bravely she didn't say a word or move. Turning back to Duo he raised his gun at Duo moving into a position that Trio couldn't see anything past him. Slowly her father raised his hands and began to speak. Suggesting desperately that there was no need for violence.

What happened next shattered the child hiding under the sink.

BANG!

The six foot four fame jerked violently. Grabbing his chest Duo staggered back, finally falling against the sink doors with a loud bang. Darkness enveloped Trio. During this time she managed to find her self pressed into the corner. Dish soap now leaked around her small frame. Each breath caught in her chest; Still to innocent to grasp what was going on.

Foot steps approached, "He's not dead yet."

Another shot rang out, having to be at close range it went through Duo, through the door, and into the sink wall. Right where Trio used to be. Blood trickled through the holes in the wood mingling in around the soap. Transfixed by horror she watched as it slowly moved towards her. To horrifed to scream, to horrified to cry, ot horrified to move. The young mind of a child tried to grasp the concept of why someone would do this to another.

She didn't know when the light started to come back. Only that when Trio looked up they were already dragging away her fathers body. His arms dragging limply on behind them.

'Hello, hello... Duo is this you, hello Duo, what was that noise just now.' A voice came from the phone. "Duo is everything alright, I'm tracing this call and I'm coming over right away.'

--

It was clear something was amiss when Heero arrived. The door to Duo's junkyard home was busted open. That wasn't the worse, there was a trail of blood that went down the stairs and cut off a few feet later. More then likely the owner of the blood was moved into a vehicle. Quatre was right to call him and convince him to go over to Duo's house. Keeping his emotion as steel he entered the house, careful not to step in the blood, or the bloody foot prints. Entering the kitchen off the front hall he noticed the pool of blood by the sink. Staining the surrounding counter with gore. Looking around he took in the rest of his surroundings. Nothing was taken, meaning this was not a robbery.

Something caught his senses, a smell soap. Looking at the cabinet he noticed the crimson stained child lock. Walking over to the door he broke off the lock and opened the door. There he found a child huddled fearfully in the corner. Grabbing her he pulled her tightly against his chest, she didn't need to see this.

The child was covered with soap, her fathers blood, and at sometime she had wet herself. Comfort came as a weird emotion to the perfect solider, but something wanted to protect and console this child. Trio had been nothing but a baby when he last saw her, god he didn't want to see her again like this.

A silent form entered the kitchen, the blonde had a hand over his mouth as he looked at all the blood.

"Heero, is Duo d-"

"Don't say it," Heero said his voice clipping off at the end.

Quatre looked up as Heero turned reavealing the tiny form in his arms. "Heero."

"Don't worry, she's out. I thought it best to sedate her. How far away is Sally?"

"... She's on Earth."

--

Trio was just waking up when Quatre walked into the Hospital room. She had been taken to a hospital in the Sanc Kingdom. Having been sedated the whole trip she didn't remember day long trip. Turning her head away from Quatre she looked at the bars of the giant crib they placed her in. Behind him walked Trowa who held a small carrior. Lightly he placed it on the night stand. Even the emotionless Trowa deep inside felt pain for the small child. However he left all the crying for his lover to do. The latch squeaked in complaint as he opened the door.

Something light moved on the bed. Turning she looked at a rat that crawled along the bed. A familiar russian blue point Siamese nose sniffed her check. A deep frown crossed her face as Trio grabbed her rat and hugged him tight. Silent tears fell as she sought comfort in the furry rodent. Still she chose to speak no words, not even in thanks. The braided haired child just sought comfort in her rat. The only thing left of her happy memories.

"How are you doing Trio?" Quatre asked.

Trio just petted her rat.

"Are you feeling better?"

Still no response.

Trowa took Quatre's arm before he spoke again. "His cage is in your reach, call if you need us."

The blond haired man objected Trowa pulled him from the room.

The years had brought changes to the Arabian ex-pilot. His hair now hung to his shoulders, bringing out brighter blue eyes. Standing at a Six foot he stood only a two inches below Trowa, and an inch taller then Heero. His frame was lean, with soft out lines of muscles. His chin and his face were still as innocent as a child, yet his eyes held the wisdom of his years.Where as Trowa and Heero hadn't changed a bit, just in size.

"Trowa how could this happen!" Quatre hissed as they were out of range of Trio's room. "Hilde was murdered no-"

"Don't assume." Trowa said simply.

"Could this be related to Hilde's murder." Quatre said delicately afraid to hear what his lover had to say.

The brown haired man didn't say a thing as he stared cross armed at Quatre. Back when Hilde was murdered, Quatre was the main suspect. There was still doubts that arose, and Quatre got off on a mere technicality. Until the true murderer was caught, there was nothing that would change that. Even though Trowa had been his lover for years, he could still feel the suspicion. The mere thought of it nearly brought the young man to tears. Anger and frustrated Quatre turned away from Trowa.

"I swear Trowa, it wasn't me, I do not know how many more times I need to explain that."

"Fact remains there is more evidence against you, then for you." Trowa's words cut deep.

The blond Arabian opened his mouth to speak, but closed it when Heero entered the room.

"There is no evidence left, only thing we got is that they wore military style boots." Heero said simply. "The only witness we have is Duo's daughter."

"She isn't talking."

"..."

"It is not surprising given the trauma of what happened." The now grey haired Sally chimed in. "Often times under great traumatic stress some children shut up and never speak a word again. Children can't be all tough."

"Your calling her weak?" Quatre asked with a hint of annoyance.

"No, but compared to you Gundam pilots..." Sally shrugged. "Only thing we can do is give Trio her space."

"So what do we do about Duo?" Quatre asked turning the conversation.

"Assume he's dead until further notice."

--

Days passed with out a single clue to Duo's wear abouts. Or much better stated, the wear abouts of his body. Once released from the hospital Trio went to live with Heero. In case anything happened to Duo and Hilde, Heero was the prime choice of custody. It was honestly the toughest mission the perfect soldier had. To have a child was challenging, to have a broken child was demanding. Tucking her in Heero walked down stairs and noticed another face had joined the group. It was Wufei, a scar marred his one shoulder, Heero remembered that Preventors mission with cold fondness.

"This came in from Preventors today." Wufei stated holding up a disk. "I was ordered to wait till we were all together to view it."

"Not now Wufei," Quatre said turning up the volume to the TV, one of the rare luxuries.

'Contains disturbing images. Anyone with young children should remove them from the room. We were advised to play this tape or they would kill the hostage. Anyone who knows this person please contact us.' The woman on the news channel babbled before it switched to a tape.


	2. Chapter 2

SORRY about the spelling errors that are left. Yahoo like totally wigged out on me. So if someone can tell me how to spell fusterated and pashient right so I can put them on a postey to use later that would be great. And any other spelling errors would be dandy. :shakes her head: I swear I'm 26 I should know these things.\

PS: I see a lot of you adding me to your alerts, if you love this story that much. I'm an attention hog, review it makes me excited to get the next chapter out. Even if it's just the word, NEXT.

I don't even know if anyone checks out these songs I leave LOL

/watch?vJizBVv-J50

/watch?vhF2ypkzQ5qw&featurerelated

AN: I DO NOT OWN GW

The video jerked wildly before the image from the security camera stabalized. On the screen sat a hunched over man in a closet like cell. There was no way for the man to lay in the cell it had to be no more then 4X4. His torso was wrapped up in dirty bandages that were caked in blood and dirt. The miserable looking braided haired man needed medical attention. Each breath was struggle to breathe. As the taped played the man did not move. Finally after a minute a voice broke the silence.

/This is what the earth sphere alliance has let free./ A old picture back when he was captured popped up on screen. /This is the the pilot of Gundam 02. The picture was taken when he was captured by OZ. Instead of disposing of these MURDERS the earth sphere alliance has gathered them together in a group called Preventors. Preventors of what? The so called pacifists gather them for yet another war to take away our freedoms./

Again silence and the image of the old Duo vanished and back into the cell. /We caught this man committing treason against humanity, I urge you brothers and sisters help me find the other pilots and lets give our fallen soldiers peace. IT IS TIME TO TAKE UP ARMS MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS! DEATH TO THE GUNDAM PILOTS! DESTRUCTION TO THE PREVENTORS! DOWN WITH THE EARTH SPHERE ALLIANCE!/

With that the video cut off. 'The group has yet to identify themselves.' The lady news caster finished.

"Duo's, he's." Quatre's voice cracked.

"There's no way to tell how old the video is," Wufei snarled. "He could be dead by now."

"What is it you wanted us to see Wufei." Heero asked ignoring the news program.

Wufei crushed the disk in his hand. "What are you talking about?"

It was very tense between the married couple. There happy years seemed so far in the distant past now. Silently Duo played with the rice on the plate. Across the table Hilde sat with her hands folded on her lap fiddling with a napkin. The silence played on Duo's nerves, finally he slammed his hands down on the table and got up to find something to take his mind off Hilde. Neatly Hilde folded her napkin and placed it on the table.

"Duo did you ever want children?" Hilde tentatively asked out of the blue.

Duo laughed as he pulled a pie out of the fridge. "Sorry Hil' I may love you and all, but kids." Duo smirked at her. "Death don't bring life into this world."

Hilde caste down her eyes sadness over whelming her.

"Drop it Hilde," Duo said his voice sounding much like Heero. "WHAT can we offer a child with our marriage in the state it's in. You want it turn out like-" Duo clutched the pie as he cut off. "Besides Hilde you KNOW the other reason why I don't want to have a kid... FUCK Hilde!"

"DUO YOUR SO!" Hilde abruptly got up from the table. "SELFISH!"

In a flash Duo was across the room, and before he could stop himself he back handed Hilde. Her small form crumpling on the floor. Before the 02 ex-pilot could respond Hilde ran out of the kitchen. A short bit later he heard the door slamming. Duo fought the demons with him as he entered the kitchen. Screaming out his frustration he flung the forgotten pie across the room. It exploded against the wall like gore from a battle.

"DAMMIT!" Duo punched the counter spitting his knuckle open.

The next day Duo woke to no Hilde, but Quatre was knocking on his door. Sleepily Duo pulled himself out of bed and stumbled to the door. It seemed more and more with his passing months it was harder to walk in the morning. It wouldn't surprise him if one morning he woke up and he couldn't move his legs anymore.

Seeing it was his old buddy Duo opened the door with a grin. However, the Arabian pilot held no cheer in his expression. In fact he was madder then half the roaches around Duo's house.

"How could you Duo?" Quatre snapped forcing the anger to resound in his voice. "How can you do that to Hilde?"

"I did nothing to Hilde." Duo slurred flinching when remembered hitting her, "we had a small argument last night that is all. We have them all the time... By the way it's nice to see you to."

"Your so stupid Duo," Quatre said calming down a bit. "My sister called from the clinic she works at. Hilde called, and she's getting an abortion."

The braided mans brain snapped quickly from sleep, to cold dread. "What?"

"Hilde is aborting her and yours baby."

"What?!" Duo clasped Quatre's shoulders, probably bruising the frail skin under the clothes. "Where is this clinic."

Quatre shook his head, "By the time you get there it will be to late."

"Bull shit, spill or I'll torture it out of you."

Once the blond Arabian spilled Duo dashed back in the house and got dressed. He hardly payed Quatre any heed as he ran out of the house. Quatre cringed as he herd the roar then the squealing tires of the motorcycle. Looking at the open front door Quatre walked in deciding to lock up the place for him..

On the way to the abortion clinic Duo broke each and every driving law. Once there he parked the bike into the street light. Barely leaping free before it crashed.

Duo hit the cement feet first, and no matter how trained he was it turned out to be a bad jump. He felt his leg break upon impact. Still he didn't flinch as he got up and made his way through the doors. Ignoring the startled looks of the woman who sat in the waiting room he strode towards a blank faced receptionist. Long powerful legs covered the distance in only a few strides. Once Duo asked were Hilde Maxwell was she quickly pointed the way soundlessly.

Every movement, every muscle twitch, and eye movement oozed out a raw finely toned preditor.

Hilde Maxwell sat on doctors bed her head buried in thin hands as she wept. Her body wracked with sobs as her emotions let loose. Standing in the door way Duo felt all the love and respect he had for this woman come back. She was his only connection to reality. After the war the dark blue haired girl that once was his capture, freed him from his depression. Though yes she did capture his heart. Then suddenly sorrow over came him as he realized where he was. Silently he went over to his wife and held her in his embrace.

"He said it was to late, I was to far along." She choked out. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Gently Duo rocked her trying not to disturb the hospital gown to much. "Shh, don't be sorry."

"But-" Hilde sniffled. "You didn't want kids."

"Hilde, Hilde, Hilde." Duo forced her to look into his eyes. "Remember your the brains in this relationship. I was just being stupid... Hil' I am not mad, I'm happy it was to late for you to abort... And Hilde I am more sorry I hit you. Please next time I do that, call one of the guys to beat my ass love."

Hilde nodded in acknowledgment. "I want to get out of here."

Sobs still occasionally shook Hilde's body as her husband wrapped his warm jacket around her. Thankful for the warm comfort she pulled it tighter around her as he picked her up. In his arms she felt so safe, and care free. With out grabbing her clothes he carried her form the clinc. It was not full of his usual grace, softly Hilde placed her hand on his chest. Resting her head on his shoulder she listened to his beating heart. It was tempting to say something to Duo. To make him stop in fear of hurting himself more. However, both needed this moment.

Today, he was her shining hero.

"Hilde." Duo croaked through chapped lips.

Breath rattled in Duo's lungs as he struggled to take another breath. How long had he been here? It had already felt like an eternity. Closing his eyes the ex 02 pilot felt death's fingers touching him. Stroking his skin much like a lover. Cold chills ran down Duo's spin. Weakly he lifted his head and leaned it against the wall. Just a little while longer, Hopefully little Trio would understand, what he did was for her.

Closing his eyes he recalled the happenings of his capturing. He could have fought, but he couldn't risk Trio in the cross fire. That and it was a loosing fight. That morning the braided man wasn't feeling to well. Each movement was sluggish. By the time they entered his usually quick actions failed to get him his gun in time.

The first shot pierced his lung, he didn't even remember the second shot. Once they got him here they decided to let him live. Duo shuttered violently has he recalled waking up as they were cracking open his ribs. All they did was hold him down as they operated on him. Thankfully the loss of blood had brought Duo back to unfeeling unconsciousness. When he woke again he was in a tiny cell. Denied the simple comfort of curling up and dying.

Warm fingers touched his skin. Lifting his heavy eye lids he first thought it was Hilde, but the hallucination changed. It was one of his captors. The one that claimed to be a doctor. The fingers probed Duo's neck for a pulse. The braided haired man was to weak for a quick come back. Duo already failed to notice the opening of his small cell.

"I told you this would happen." The doctor snapped. "We need to go in again, I think his lung is collapsing again."

Duo groaned at the thought of being cut open.

"We did to much already to save his life." Another.

"You forget, in his mind he has the names of the pilots, lay outs of the Preventors. He KNOWS how to make Gundams." The warm hands moved from Duo's flesh. "He's got fifteen more minutes at most, and that's because he proved inhuman already."

There was a deep growl and Duo felt himself being lifted off the floor. 'Funny' Duo had thought, as his eyes were open and he wasn't seeing a thing.

The insurgent doctor stared at the pashient slung over his fellow insurgents shoulder. It fusterated him to no ends that no matter how much he tried to save people for their uses they ended up killing them before their time. He could be only be thankful that the braided hiared man was carefully laid on the metal table not slammed. Grabbing a knife from a tray and a tube he walked over to his pashient. Carefully he cut the skin between the ribs.

Oh yes, his pashient was unfortunately awake.

Carefully he slid in the tube between two ribs and into his chest. Whimpers came from the braided haired man. Fluid flowed out from his chest. Grabbing the restraints he tied down Duo. His fellow insurgent left, the doctor looked at him coldly. What he wouldn't give right now to change his career.

"Hello, if you can hear me, I'm doctor Rjia. I'm going to put in some IV's, they finally okayed me to give you antibiotics, and blood. I'm surprised most of all you haven't died of blood loss. But Duo, that's your name right?"

Weakly Duo nodded, he didn't know why he responded.

"I am going to have to put a IV line in to your chest, I need you to not to move."

Listening to Rjia Duo didn't move. The IV's didn't hurt as much as the other stuff. Now that his comrade was gone Rjia was more careful with Duo. As if Rjia cared, he rested a hand on Duo's face. The warmth was almost comforting. In his diluted mind he could almost feel Hilde touching him. Even though, obviously he died years earlier.

"Since no one is watching, I'm going to give you something. It's going to leave you comatose for awhile. They'd shoot me if they discovered I gave it to you. Is that alright?"

"Not like you care." Duo's whispered. "Do it," he mouthed.

Pain radiated through Duo's body, then almost instantly a serene calm came over him.Closing his eyes Duo let unconsciousness take him.

--

"This came in from the colonies, they apologized for it being so late." Quatre handed a disk to Heero who sat tapping on his computer.

The typing stopped and Heero looked up at Quatre. Taking the disk he gave the Arabian pilot the what look.

"It's a list of ships that departed that was new to the colony, and suspicious. It's better then going through the flight plan of each and every ship that departed the colony."

"How many ships?" Heero asked.

"I have not looked."

"Hmf," Heero popped the disk into his computer.

Peering over Quatre's shoulder he added more to the one sided conversation. "Duo is really loved by the colonists."

"For now." Heero put bluntly. "You forget how easily they turn."

Quatre cringed, it was so true. Unlike his friends who always backed him up, the colonists where often quick to turn against any pilot. Times change people change. It might be a weak spot for the blond Arabian but he still had hope in the people. Sitting down on the desk beside Heero's computer he began to sulk.

"The colonists shortened the list by a lot." Heero stated. "There are five I really want to look at. I'll take two, Trowa, Wufei, and you will take one."

"Understood."

"One more thing Quatre." Heero looked Quatre in the eye. "Our objective is to stop the terrorists. If we can save Duo then so be it. If you can't complete the-"

"I know Heero." Quatre cut him off. "I am not Duo, you do not need to lecture me."

"Hn."


	3. Chapter 3

I have no idea how many times I have rewritten the beginning of this chapter. It just didn't seem right, but now I'm certain I got it kinda sorta right.

Thank you to cfweber1b, your the first to review. And two Duoloopo, and snowdragonct. Both of you helped so much. And LOL duoloopo you do sound FUSTERATED!

To think when I first started writing fanfics, oh man, lets just say writing fan fics has improved my grammer and spelling 70 percent hands down. It's the reason why I do not write under my original name anymore.

:-P almost forgot todays music insperation my fav is the last song on the list.

profile./index.cfm?fuseactionuser.viewprofile&friendID20288331

Usual disclaimers, so if you want to say something about it,-censor- off. REMEMBER REVIEW!

Closing his computer slowly Heero looked down at Trio. At some time she had fallen asleep while drawing. A red crayon remained her tiny hand. Rising from the chair , the ex 01 pilot eyed the drawings under the child's head. Careful not to wake her he slid the papers from off under her head. The crayon in her hand moved causing her to twitch, but other then that she remained asleep.

NumNums scampered away from Heero to hide in his owners PJ's. More intent on the drawings he ignored the rodent. Flipping throw the pages, most scribbled out in red, Heero relived the night through her eyes. Frowning he set them up on the coffee table.

Trio Maxwell was the only witness and she refused to speak.

The colonies had been a big help in the search for Duo Maxwell. When they could they gave answers to all the questions that were asked. They tried to never say I do know. In the end even their leads led to a dead end. The search of all the ships would take months, and by then most of the crew would be gone. Fighting back despair Heero scooped up little Trio, the rat tumbling out of her PJ's.

Where could Duo be?

As the tall human carried his owner back into the room NumNums hopped behind. Squabbling his complaints as he went.

"Shut up or we're having roast rodent for breakfast," Heero hissed as he tucked Trio into bed.

The Siamese rat gave a snort as it climbed up it's latter and into the cage. Heero moved to latch the cage but a tiny hand caught his arm. Looking through the darkness he could see the fear and sadness of a innocent child. Though she still was asleep Trio reached out for him. She didn't want to be alone. A distant emotion of sympathy throbbed in Heero's chest.

Afraid of the strange emotion he rarely felt; the ex 01 pilot suppressed the emotion.

Heero Yui was the perfect soldier made for war. He did not have emotions to hinder him. As such Heero wasn't given anything necessary that would make him a good father. Fatherhood, what a joke, he could never be a parent. It was decided he would give Trio to anyone who could better care for her. No guilt, no sadness, and Heero would do it in a heart beat.

But she was a part of Duo, and Duo he-

"Ah shit," Heero uncharacteristically cursed shattering it current frame of thought.

Reluctantly Heero curled up next to Trio. Holding her tight to him, feeling the warmth of the tiny body Heero wished himself to sleep. When sleep wouldn't come he forced himself to go over the past reports and not what his current train of thought was.

"Sleep my child sleep."

Trowa Barton, one week, two days, ten hours, and fifty five minutes located the ship Parmithius. One of the top ships leaving the colonies. Upon discovery Trowa discovered the only thing illegal going on was the illigal transport of humans to and from the colony to earth. Having cowaperated with Trowa, their actions were ignored.

Wufei Chang, two days later, found the ship 9304875. It was classified as a small time cargo ship. It had crashed into debris heading towards a colony. No survivors.

Quatre Rebarbra Winner, one month ago, one day. The ship Serenity was reported stolen. It took awhile to discover it's wear abouts. Instead of arrests there was a dispute over owner ship. Neither side seemed to know anything about the missing ex 02 pilot. Both parties have since vanished.

Then himself, Heero Yui. two ships all found promptly after assigning them to himself. Ship number 346536546 and ship 00004358743. Both had been small, but legit transports, and shuttles to and from earth or other colonies. Back ground check of everyone turned up clean.

A total of three hundred seventy ships where futily tracked down. It came to the point they were ask to stop, claiming it was unjustified to search every ship. Everyone was near exhaustion, but no one near the level of Heero. To be honest in these last few weeks he pushed human endurance on sleeping. Barely getting ten hours in one week. By all means he should be dead.

Tonight Heero didn't fight the sleep, nor did he ignore the need of a child.

The blond Arabian watched as his best friend shifted in his chair. He had the best of worlds, a loving relationship, and a child. Ever since the young Maxwell entered the house, peace seemed to ascend. However, about the same time Duo had cut himself off from his fellow Gundam pilots. Refusing to have any contact beyond short messages via vid phone. Another thing that rubbed Quatre the wrong way.

That is why he surprised Duo at his junkyard home, and as expected only Hilde gave him a warm welcome.

Forcing a smile Quatre set some tea beside Duo. "Come how Duo, it's been a long time since anyone saw you. I didn't even get to see Trio born."

"So?" The usually cheerful ex 02 pilot looked up. His eyes intensifying the anger he felt. "You come here uninvited and try to get Hilde to say what was my reasoning."

"It's Hilde's choice that you have no contact with us." It was a statement not a question.

"Sure, what ever." Duo mumbled as he reached for the tea. "Thank you for the tea."

"Duo?"

"Hm?"

"What happened to the happy you. The one we had to nearly sedate in order to get to bed?" Quatre asked choosing his words carefully.

"I did what you guys asked; I grew up." Duo took a sip of tea though he despised it.

"Don't worry Duo, I'll make things better." Quatre said his voice sounding off.

Suddenly Duo's eyes opened wide his body frozen in place as he tried to breath. His body jerking with every attempt. As if he didn't see what was going on Quatre rose from his chair. Smiling as sweet as he did back in the day he bid Duo good bye before walking out the door. The cup crashed to the floor only seconds before Duo collapsed. His body slipping from the chair to the floor as he made one ditch effort to move.

That night Heero had received the worst call of his life. Still struggling for breath Duo asked for help and mentioned Quatre's name. Having come up with Quatre he was in the right city. Hanging up he looked for the blond Arabian but he was gone.

Where could be be?

The scene at the Maxwell house was appalling. All three were discovered in the kitchen. Duo was still alive definly from how much effort his body was putting into breathing. Beside him lay Hilde who was covered in blood. It covered the floor in a sea of live giving fluid. Studying the patterns in the blood Heero could tell Duo staggered to his wifes side before calling beside her. There were also signs of a struggle.

Two struggles when on tonight.

A baby began to cry.

Heero strode over to the living room were he found a baby sitting on the couch, her arms reaching out for him. There was no way she could have got there herself. Maxwell's little baby was covered from head to foot in blood. At one time who ever attacked the Maxwell family tried to wipe the babies face clean.

Everything what went quiet in the background, to quiet. Turning away from the crying baby Heero made his way back to Duo. The braided haired man lay still in teh blood. Rushing over to him Heero tilted his head back and checked for any signs of breathing.

There was none.

Opening the bruised mouth of Duo, Heero firmly pressed his lips against the ex 02 pilot's. Several minutes passed as Heero preformed CPR. It all seemed hopeless then suddenly Duo gave a tiny breath. He was still alive, flipping open the phone Heero called for back up.

As he hung up the phone, Heero herd someone behind him. Whipping out he gun he turned and faced the intruder.

A young blond man raised his hands, "I just came to apologize to Duo."

Heero recalled Duo's voice on the phone, "Move and your dead, I know you did this Winner. I just want to know why?"

"Why?"

Along with Quatre's finger prints on the tea cup. There was the bloodied foot steps around the bodies matched shoes that where found in Quatre's house. Same with bloody closed stored in a hidden trunk. Despertly Quatre fought for his innocence. Condemning is he admitted to being there shortly before the murder, and attempted homicide.

Duo had survived but just barely.

However, the police did a crappy job and some evidence was unmissable in court. That it there was another set of DNA at the crime scene. Quatre was released, but so much shrouded his innocence; no one would trust him.

Heero slept until late, Trio lay still sound asleep pressed against him. A little thumb rested in her mouth. My all means Trio looked content, and happy. Brushing the hair out of child's face Heero studied her face. She was indeed much like her mouther. But her nose, he gangly form, even down to her purplish eyes where her father.

'When Trio grows up she'll be a heart breaker.' Heero thought.

The ex 01 pilot couldn't procrastinate anymore. Getting up he hardly disturbed Trio. Sleepily he headed towards the kitchen. He was hungry, and when Trio awoke she would be hungry too.

The inside of the fridge told of someone unprepared to take care of a child. A few bottles of beer, old pizza, a few eggs god knows how old. The milk obviously curdled and well beyond age. There was other things unidentifiable. Having to leave on missions on quick notice left food to be forgotten and rot. The only thing that looked remotely eatable was the butter.

Sighing Heero closed the fridge.

There was no cereal either, only oatmeal and some freshly produced fruit. Trio wouldn't touch oatmeal, and fruit wasn't a complete breakfast.

Walking to the vid phone he turned it on and dialed up Wufei's number.

"What?" The Chinese man's face was blank.

"I forgot again to get food." Heero stated flatly.

"... What have you been doing for food lately?" Wufei asked not hiding his disgust. "I mean, it's been over a month."

"Take out."

"You are a disgrace," Wufei hissed. "I'll send Sally over since you need some some advice on parenting."

Heero stopped short mentioning on what Wufei would know about rasing a kid. Even though Sally and Wufei were not married they had one son. He should be just over a year now. A test tube baby no doubt he had never seen Sally pregnant and she was just to old.

Abruptly Heero hung up the vid phone.

Walking back into the living room Heero sat on the couch. Grabbing the crumpled up peice of paper left there form the night before. By the chew marks it was something NumNums had stashed. Absent-minded the ex 01 pilot crumpled the piece of paper.

On it was the biggest clue of all.

Grabbing his lap top Heero used it's programing to summon Duo's colony. Impatiently he waited till someone picked up.

"Is Hcaep there?" Heero asked before the hello.

"Hm, no, my grandfather is not here." A young man said over the vid screen. "Can I leave a message for him?"

"..." Heero's lips drew tight. Was this person trust worthy?

"I know about Mr. Maxwell, he supplies us parts cheaper then if we bought them new." The young man shook his head. "He makes sure there not faulty, so we owe Mr. Maxwell a lot. I know who you are Heero, so please, if you need anything..."

Giving him the once over on the vid screen Heero finally responded. "Ask your Hcaep if he knows anyone associated actively with OZ."


	4. Intermission

A light fills a dark interrogation room before a door slams shut. All is dark again, as booted feet move fast across the floor. There is a click before a dull light comes on illuminating and imposing rusting desk. Satisfied Duo sits down at the desk and spreads papers all over the place.

"Ladies, and gentlemen I have to keep this short do to how HIGHLY illegal typing a message on windows 98 is." Duo rolls his eyes. "Man I miss XP's bull shit now. ANYWAYS, Drowning fishy is in need of a beta reader. Yeah man I know, there is a forum for that, but really Drowning Fishy don't want a know it all!"

Duo pauses as he continues. "Okay she could need a know it all. Doing things on her own usually leads to something stupid... ... Like her author name Drowning Fishy." For a moment the ex 02's pilots eyes drift off. "But face it we are picky, we need someone SPECIAL for this mission.

They must know:

A. Just 'cause she said so, doesn't make it so.

B. Will add to the story if she or he feels like it needs something. This by all means should be cleared with Drowning Fishy. However, she will usually will always agree.

C. If you make a super dumb error, she's going to laugh at you, and you are expected not to get insulted. I'm not going to mention names, but one of her old beta's was feeling tired so he or she forgot all the periods, comas and everything else necessary for proper English." Duo's grin widened. "I know if Heero did that I would be laughing my pants off. HELL I'd probably need a new pair of skibbies.

How ever this beta was very much insulted, and sent all her friends to slander her name. This by all means is not Drowning Fishy's first name.

Lastly D. She needs someone who will get back to her QUICKLY. This is the MOST important requirement. Once completeing chapter she wants to get it out fast." Duo looks up from the papers to make eye contact. "Heh, a quick stealthy mission, no matter how messy it comes out, is usually the wisest choice."

And added plus will be AIM, she's RoMayDrako IM her any time if you are interesting. And don't worry. The only thing she is a bitch to, is her muse. I lost count how many times he's been shoved off a cliff for this story.

OH and while I'm at it why she needs it, is because she got fired, started college, lap top blew up, and now is using a computer that would be best left to retirement. She is also slow realeasing this because of two injuries. One was a TOTAL Heero type thing..." Duo shudders. "Seriously how can someone NOT notice they broke a bone. Exspecially their ankle. Truely disturbing man.

NOW HURRY UP AND FIND ME A BETA THE NEXT CHAPTER IS READY! Now man I don't care if you have to kidnap them."

Duo gets up then pauses before he clicks off the light. "For those of you who actually read this, a little added surprise."

click

Trio lowered her ear close to her cereal bowl. Her face scrunched up as she listened. Sitting up she looked at her father who was slowly and stiffly making his way to the kitchen table. Looking at his daughter with a smile Duo Maxwell set this bowl on the table.

"What is it Trio?"

"Wittle swoldurs fightin' in my cereal." The little girl replied with a sour look. "Wisten."

Suppressing his laughter Duo leaned over and listened. He could hear the snap, crackle and pop from her rice cereal. Messing up Trio's bed head hair he laughed.

"Little soldiers, huh?" The smile was huge across Duo's face.

"Yup!"

Lifting up her spoon he moved it towards her mouth."Quick quell the rebellion."

A giggle came from Trio as she took a bite. Grabbing a soggy dried strawberry she chucked it at the braided haired man's forehead. There it stuck with a loud slapping noise.

"OH NO THEY ATTACKING DADDY!" Trio yelled with a cereal still in her mouth.

Not missing a beat Duo 'fell' to the floor. "OH NO THEY GOT ME! AUG, Trio avenge daddies death." Then Duo 'died'.

Laughter irrupted from Trio as she began to shovel cereal into her mouth.

This short intermission FAN fic was brought to you by the makers of Gundam Wing, and Rice Krispies Cereal with strawberries, neither of which I own.


	5. Chapter 4

I would like to take this time to say this about Duo, he is not by any means a hair neat freak. I have long THICK hair and when braided, if I can get it braided I can tell you I leave it. You people think it's easy to brush out a thick layering of hair a day. HA.

Duo: :breathing heavily: OKAY, hair brushed out fully. :weak grin: Now unto braiding.

And that leads me to another point. You know why he's good at picking locks and all that? Because no one under stands just HOW tangled up you get in your own hair.

Duo: It's not my hand this time. :fake sniffle:

And how many hair brushes, NEVERMIND how many combs you go through attempting one brushing. So all you people with thin, long hair, that behaves. -censored mouth and hand movement-. My heart and my arms get a helluva work out with my hair alone. If Duo was real, OH MAN, I would pity the fool.

Duo:... ... HEY! So not cool, woman I am real.

Your an animation Duo.

Duo: Well Sorry -sarcastic- and -censored- you.

Wait we don't fucking censor on this goddamn fic. FUCKING SHIT I am an idiot.

Duo: :grinning wildly: Damn right babe.

Okay unto the fic, and consider the above a profanity warning. As usual the song is /watch?vdjgUAFYXGAA&featurerelated. Editing this fic falls to Chandra, who now I dub her now um, hms, CHI! Yush her name shall be Chi. And it's up to you guys whether or not she is fired. SO VOTE NOW! - Okay another person showed up to the ball park. So next chapter will be another beta DarkYuy. LOL YUSH this shall be fun. AND ONLY ONE BETA WILL COME OUT ON TOP!

Drip.

...

Drip.

...

Drip.

...

Drip.

/"Aww, did my little Duo fall and get a boo-boo?"/

Drip.

A finger ran down Duo's forehead lightly, and he could have sworn he heard some laughter.

Drip.

/"Come on Duo, open those pretty eyes of yours."/

Drip.

Slowly Duo opened his eyes. Unfocused he looked around, nothing made sense to his jarbled mind. Even through the haze Duo could see he was alone in a darkened dirty room. An IV bag above him dripped steadily on his forehead.

Drip.

God how he hated that.

Drip.

There was a definite giggle. Duo snapped his eyes towards the sound. Who was it that was in the room, friend or foe? He was guessing foe; there was nothing to state otherwise.

Drip.

Hilde giggled above him and ran a finger down his nose. /"Good Morning sunshine."/ Her voice sang out.

Drip.

"HILDE!" Though it was a yell it came out as a mere whisper.

Drip.

/"Don't say my name traitor!"/ Hilde was in her space suit, looking like back when they first met.

Drip.

"I'll hand you over, and see that justice will be done."

Drip.

Duo closed his eyes this wasn't happening. Painfully he recalled Hilde was killed. Dead and burried for years now. Hallucinating, he had to be hallucinating. That had to be it! Groaning he tried to turn away from the steady dripping of what ever it was.

Drip.

"I'm sorry Duo," In his minds eye he saw Hilde in front of him at the doctors office.

Drip.

"Nothing they can do." The woman's face turned to optimistic. "Maybe the others will be able to help-"

"NO!" Duo screamed in rage, embarrused by his perdicament.

Drip.

Regretfully Duo lowered his head. "I do not want the others to know. Hilde-"

Drip.

"Wu-man called." They were back at their house, Duo was laying on the couch. "Something about the injustice of not seeing you for a year."

Drip.

"Come on Duo just talk to them." It was another time, another Hilde, this time she was pregnant.

Drip.

Violently Duo shook his head trying to get free of the dripping liquid. Everything was restrained on him. Frantically, he looked around for any option. The world around him kept fading in and out of a hazy fog.

Drip.

Hilde stood above him holding a bundle. "Would you like to see the baby?"

Drip.

A silent scream came from the braided ex 02 pilot as he struggled to break the restraint that was around his neck. It was futile. The drip, the restraints, and the memories remained. He thought he felt tears begin to form, no, he never cried, it was the liquid from the bag that now ran down his face.

Drip.

Overpowering fear overtook him suddenly. A sense of urgency filled his mind with irrational thoughts. He was now back in his house, on that fateful night when Hilde died. Quatre had drugged him after a surprise visit, and he was now waking up feeling like shit.

Drip.

The ex 02 pilot rolled down the stairs drawn by the distress cries of his child. Struggling into the kitchen on his stomach he found himself in a warm puddle. Weakly he looked up, Hilde's dying eyes look back at him.

Drip.

No. No. NO! He didn't want to remember this, this was all best forgotten. Desperately Duo tried to suppress the memories.

Drip.

The vid phone was at the tip of his fingers when something impacted the back of his head. Uncertain whether or not it connected Duo collapsed to the floor. The room spun as he struggled to look up. The attacker sent a boot into the base of his spine. Growling, and summoning the side of him that was Shinigami Duo spun around and grabbed at the attacker.

Drip.

Fingers wrapped tightly around a thin arm just above the elbow. The person struggled to pull away. Summoning as much energy as he could Duo struck. There wasn't much force in the blow, only enough to stun them. It was then he noticed Quatre's shoes, his pants, his belt, his shirt... Duo stared at the face of Hilde's murderer.

Drip.

\"You should have just died."\

A murderous scream tore from Duo's lungs, his back arching up from the table. The ex 02 pilot felt his soul shattering like it did that horrible night. The sheer impact of his memories is what made the former 02 pilot loose control of his emotions. Something which he was trained not to do. Not as a gundam pilot necessarily, but as a street rat. So gone was he at this moment Duo didn't register people rush in. Didn't register as he was lifted off the table and pulled from the room.

A light shone Duo's eyes blinding him. Incoherent, he struggled to look around but only found dark shapes. Two people held him up by his arms. For a second his vision blurred as he looked down. He was off the table, and there were strange scars on his chest. Intrigued he stared at the puckered lines of these new scars. One ran straight up his chest.

Someone said something, when there was no response Duo was slapped.

"Wha..?" Duo croaked shaking his head.

One of the shadows was talking to him. It looked funny. Another grin spread across Duo's face as he listened to the strange noises. The shadow reached out and grabbed his face firmly, this caused a small giggle to escape from Duo.

"-Name."

"-inagami." Duo's voice cracked.

Again the shadow stuck Duo and asked again.

"Mother fucker, no one knows my real name." Duo wheezed. "So unless you get a Ouija board and contact my whore of a mother. It-IS what-the-hell-EVER I say it is. Got it buddy?"

The shadow, the leader of the men that captured Duo, tried to get information from the braided man. It was over a month since he went into a coma. Earlier that day they had heard his scream. Perfect timing for their propaganda. However, the senseless person was not cooperating. Instead it looked like he was finding this down right funny. Motioning to one of his underlings he stepped closer to do and waved a hand in front of his face.

"Do you feel sorry for what you have done in the war?" He said very slowly.

Duo shook his head the world fading out momentarily. "Why should I?" He gasped laughing slightly. "I was created, nothing more then a weapon to be abused." There was a moment where Duo hesitated trying to make sense of it all. At some time the shadowed figure turned into death. "Operation meteor was a fucked up mission.," Duo coughed. "Fucked up but it worked out. It all worked out," The last sentence faded out.

"HOW did it work OUT?! YOU CALL ALL THOSE YOU MURDERED WORKING IT OUT?!"

The response to death's out burst made Duo openly laugh. "Oh, come on man. The past is the friggin' past. We can't go back and change any thing so why worry? WHY? If operation meteor went down as planned a LOT more people would be dead so FUCK off and learn your history pal."

The leader grew angry at Duo's biting words. Lashing out he took his anger out on the once 02 pilot. For a moment he thought he knocked out the man prone in front of him. However, laughter soon filled the small room. Eyes that had seen every atrocity of war darted about wildly trying to get a fleeting grasp on reality. Still his body shook from laughter. Growling the leader turned to a bulky man standing in the darkness.

"Do it!" He snapped.

In a flash Duo was shoved unto the ground, pinned by the shoulders.

A fat, yet muscular man waddled over towards Duo. Thoughtfully he looked at the bare back. Sniffling he turned to his leader and said, "So, what do you want. Nice and fancy."

"Yeah, and... ... Something long to get that smirk off his face."

"Hm, wrong, no to short... ..." The bulky man eyed a small shine from something metal. Yes, the captive was wearing a cross. "How about sinner, since he is a man of faith."

The leader turned and walked away. In the wake Duo's laughter rose to hysterics.

--

A fist slammed down on the table as Heero turned away from the vid screen. Duo's laughter haunted him from behind. They were slowly cutting into his flesh with a razor. They even moved the camera so that the people watching the tape could see the blood. They were fucking doing so as if it was a goddamn tattoo; design and all. As each rivulet fell Heero felt his self control slipping away. Throwing a glare at Lady Une he walked towards the door.

Slowly Une pulled herself away from the vid screen. At one time these boys now under her command were her enemy. Now Une worried for them as if they were her own soldiers. No, more then soldiers. If the day came where should could admit it, these were her children. Calmly she gathered her nerve before halting the hot headed ex 01 pilot.

"Heero Yui, stand down." Were the only words Une had to say. "Trowa Barton, go on to your target. I trust your emotions won't catch in the way of your mission."

"No ma'am, they won't, I'll take Wufei with me if you think-"

"That won't be necessary." Lady Une said sharply. "However as a friend I hope you are wrong Heero, that Quatre isn't behind Duo's kidnapping. Let us hope that the crew of the Serenity just fooled him."

Slowly Heero folded his arms, and in a voice cold as ever spoke. "We are not going after Duo now that we know where to find him?"

"No point, they know we are coming." Une's face tightened as she leaned forward her hands folded on her lap. "By the time we get there Duo will be gone along with them. Who ever tipped them off gave them time to react."

"Or we'll find his body." It was Wufei who spoke. "I am going to check it out."

Une nodded, "Heero, do you have anyone to take care of Trio Maxwell?"

Heero nodded, "She's started a private school."

"Isn't she too young for that Heero?" Lady Une asked incredulously.

Heero's frown deepened. "Yes, but," His eyes made contact knowingly with Wufei's. "Other circumstances came up, and it was necessary to do so to protect her. That is my mission as her god father."

"Mission?" Lady Une snapped being taken back by his words. "Raising a child is not a mere mission."

"..."

There was no winning with Heero, so Une continued on. "Fine, go with Wufei, take some Preventors with you. You are dismissed... ... ...One second Wufei."

With nothing else said Trowa and Heero departed. Closing her eyes Une frowned deeply before standing. Une did not hesitate as she walked over to Wufei who was eyeing her like trash. Mother like, Lady Une placed a hand on the ex 05 gundam pilots shoulder.

"First off I want to say I know about Relena's plan to strip the Gundam pilots of their children in the name of peace."

Wufei's face twitched, but he remained calm.

"Please don't get upset at Sally for telling me..."

"Is that all?" Wufei's voice betrayed his feelings; he was upset.

"If Heero thinks he can track down who ever is behind this, let him. However, I want you to stick with him Wufei." Lady Une lowered her hand. "Do not contact the Preventors unless you need back up. Do you understand?"

"Understood."

"Chang you can go now."

Once Wufei was gone, Lady Une turned a sad gaze to the spots Heero, and Trowa had stood. Little toy soldiers they were made out to be. Two were strong, two were lively, and one was his own person. It was now to that she feared for the two strong little soldiers. They were loosing there lively little companions. One to terrorism. and the other one to unthinkable crimes. How would they react if their worlds came crashing down. Breaking away the barriers that held back dammed up emotions.

"You can't fix what you can not control." Lady Une muttered to herself. "No matter how much it hurts to see everything just fall apart."

--

Chaos broke out around Duo. The place in which he was being held captive was in a flurry of action. Stuff was being packed, and he'd heard several trucks already pull out. Resting his smarting back against tiny cell's wall he waited. Something was happening, this could either mean his death, or freedom. Lightly the braided haired man laughed.

"Preventors or U.E.S.N. police will be here any minute." A voice from outside the door spoke, moving quickly.

U.E.S.N. the supposed peace police force. They policed many ports, but on a general they were all just lazy bastards. Even if they found black marketed weapons it would take a pile of paper and long legal work to get anything done. Truly it was the Preventors that held up the building blocks of peace time.

Then what where preventors? A mixed group of aging, and warring groups that didn't know how to function outside of peace. As people died, primarily of suicide the Preventors numbers went down. Laws were a suggestion, a threat of sorts. Really, all they did was continue to live in the mindset of war continued. Going in when the U.E.S.N. or the president didn't want to dirty their hands.

The door to the cell opened, not wanting to deal with anything else Duo feigned unconsciousness. As uneducated as these bastards where they'd never catch on. As they dragged him out of the room, they failed to notice the message written on the wall.

--

"Heero I found a message from Duo." Wufei walked through the again abandoned base.

Visibly Heero's shoulders tensed up. Still he didn't look at the Chinese man, nor did he speak. Quietly he waited, hoping that the braided haired idiot left them some sort of clue. Other then something they already knew.

Wufei continued on, "He left a message in his own blood saying 'Assholes, you are late! Really get me out of this shit hole. Because if you don't, tribes of hell are coming after you. I really do mean it. Cunts.' Such barbaric wording you think he'd have better manners in a help message."

Heero looked up from the tire tracks, his eyes locking on Wufei. "Wufei, where is the message?"

"Down the passage way, it's an old broom closet."

"Show me."

Quickly Wufei showed Heero the message. It was in small writing in the corner. If no one was looking for it one might miss it. If it was seen it would be seen as just ramblings of frustration. However to Heero it held an important message. Wufei repeated the crude message word for word, but there was a blood smear below some words. Tribes of hell. Over and over Heero scanned the message. There was no mistake, Heero felt his cold heart rise.

"Wufei, I know how to find Duo, lets get going."

AN: COME ON I'm trying to encourage you peoples to think. So far I see only one reviewer following my vagueness, though missing some HUGE clues. SO I leave you here, what is the message. PS: Any remaining spelling errors are not the beta's fold. :waves hand: YO all mine.


	6. Chapter 5

Roninlvr, I have to say you made my day. You understand more about the story then you give yourself credit for. I really want to say more, but one word, and you guys can figure out the whole story line. :smiles evilly: Thank you Roninlvr. In quick addition, if some of my story didn't annoy you, my work wouldn't be done.

Dragon77 is in the leads reviewing 3 times, followed by Duoloopo. This silly fact is brought to you by Duo Maxwell.

As of right now Chi has dropped off the face of the universe, and the other person who mentioned taking a crack at it. Well, I never herd from her to begin with. So I was right, SCREW to this whole beta thing. It's just not working out. You people are just going to have to deal; Chi I appreciated the earlier job you did, thank you.

However, at this point, I really do not care. College, getting kicked out because I'm not a drunk geek, jobless, my pet is dying, and mother fuckers calling me early in the bloody morning asking me if I want to job but with a catch 22. Catch 22 being a large lump sum of money I do not have. All you who have family to fall back on, are lucky fucking bastards. That reminds me, if I do not update anymore it's because I'm even more depressed then I am now, or homeless because I have no family to turn to.

This fic is brought to you by an unemployed collage student, and therefore has nothing to do with the creators of Gundam, and their universes. Any lawyers sent to my door will be tossed to the annoying aggressive dogs next door.

--

In the past, the boys lives were intertwined by the single mission of peace, even though they retained independent goals. After the war it looked like they'd always remain close. With that thought, Trowa and Quatre became a more active couple. Wufei stopped leaving with out mentioning his plans. Partly having been domesticated by the weaker sex. More specifically, Sally Po.

Hell, even Heero and Duo got together for a little bit. Then Duo left Heero for Hilde and they left for the colony. Heero's he felt like that was Relena's fault, after an incident in the kitchen she didn't give them an ounce of peace. Their little happy family soon drifted apart. They had tried many times to contact Duo, but Hilde always said it was Duo who didn't want to talk to them.

Wufei had blamed Hilde, because she was quote on quote, the weaker sex. It was only Quatre who felt that there was something more going on.

Low and behold, on the day of Hilde's death, Quatre visited Duo. Aggravated beyond the point his lover couldn't console him anymore; blinded by irrationality.

It was noted by Quatre the look of horror on Duo's face when he saw his old war buddy at the door. After a short, whispered fight with Hilde behind the door, Hilde finally let him in.

/"He's upstairs in the study," Hilde's faced looked completely happy, but there was pain behind it. "We had another unexpected guest today, but not for Duo. All I ask is don't wake the baby. I'm sorry Q-Man I must get back to her."/

Hilde's death was due to loss of blood from multiple stab wounds. The person behind the knife either didn't care, or didn't know the right area's to stab for a quick death. Some how Duo managed to survive. All the ex 02's pilots grief centered solely on the four pilots for the intrusion of his life. Little did they know what the self proclaimed Shinigami was capable of the anger department.

That came when Quatre got off on a few technicalities.

Really, that would be the last time the boys would hear from Duo up until his abduction. After attacking Quatre, Duo took his daughter and returned to his junk yard home. There was no clean up crews for crime scenes on the colony so it was left up to Duo to clean up the murder scene. Sally and Une wondered if it would be best to admit the broken boy in the phyc ward for a few days.

Heero defended the man he still loved. Pointing out, that if it wasn't for there interference in the ex 02's life, Hilde would be still alive. Thankfully they took the Japanese man's point and left Duo alone. So the years passed, not having the hyper man around left a void. With work at the Preventors however, that void was soon forgotten.

While on a mission in space, Heero got the call from Duo. As soon as the number popped up the ex 01 pilot knew something was horribly wrong. A twang of dread went through Heero as he accepted the call. There he herd the voices, the gun shots. Why couldn't have been a call to say Duo missed them?

And now here they were, trying to avoid having Trio become an orphan. How would the murder of two parents affect her?

Something stuck in the back of Heero's mind as he went through both the crime scene, and the video's of Duo being held. Why didn't Duo fight off Hilde's murderer? He was poisoned but his body was capable of handling it. The day of his abduction he could have easily over took them, but there was no signs he tried. Very simply, he just surrendered the day of his abduction.

On the videos the ex 02 pilot never rose to his full height to antagonize his captors. Matter of fact how tall was Duo now? Clearly he was a lot taller, and muscular then last he saw the braided haired idiot.

"Tribes of hell, leave Maxwell to describe the desert as hell." Wufei paused as he looked at the digital map of the desert. "We could use Quatre's help tracking down the different nomadic tribes."

"There is only a few left." Heero said dryly snapped out of his revere. "Even fewer are tribes large enough to pull this off. Their mobility will be limited."

It was silent except for the grinding of Heero's teeth, Wufei had a point. It was also because of that exact same point, that their mobility was limited too.

E.U.S.N. police set up many blockades searching vehicles for anything leading to the kidnapping of Duo Maxwell. If they where on the major road someone would spot them. Still many of the desert folk were great smugglers. Quatre's Magunats where good proof of that. For years they had many under ground bases. Even after the war they never discovered all of them. The place Duo was held, an abandoned Magunat base. So this tribe knew to look for bases. Yet, this still could have been an opportunistic moment.

"Satalite imaging, any major movement would kick up enough dust." Wufei said almost a whisper.

A heavy sigh came from Heero as he sagged under the pressure of his emotions. "Illegal, unless justified. Lady Une forbade is to contact the Preventors."

"Fuck."

Heero raised an eyebrow. "You swore."

"Yes, and your showing more emotion then usual." Wufei pointed out. "So it's our day to be uncharacteristic in our behavior."

"Agent Chang, Agent Yui." A young kid came running up to them holding a blue envelope, one of the few people to join Preventors. Agent Jonny was his name. "It's from Lady Une."

Silently Wufei stepped forward and took the envelope. Silently Heero stood behind him stone faced and emotionless. Slowly Wufei began to open the envelope. Agent Jonny began to shift uncomfortable. Every few seconds his freckled face would turn a shade of red then vanish. It was clear the young man wanted to say something. Pausing Wufei made contact with Agent Jonny.

"What is it that you want to ask?"

Shyly the young man shook his head. "Not ask, I just wanted to congratulate you on your baby boy!"

Taken back by Agent Jonny's declaration he looked down at the hard he pulled out partly. Indeed it was celebrating a new arrival. Sheepishly Wufei forced himself to smile. Women were weak, unstable, and if the card justified; they were all insane. Wufei must have been glowering quite fierce at the envelope, because Agent Jonny quickly excused himself. Departing from the two ex pilots quite hastily.

Opening up the card Wufei felt his desperation disappear.

"Sally pregnant again?" Heero dead panned turning to the map. "You guys just had a kid."

Wufei moved over to Heero and dropped the card and the pictures it contained on the map. "It's very honorable to have many kids Heero. Keeps a clan strong."

"That is a big baby boy your having Wufei." Heero mumbled as he stared at the pictures. Not of anyone born or not, but satilite images. "I stand corrected, it's very good timing."

--

Slowly the cart rocked back and forth as it moved slowly over the dunes. Limply Duo lay on his back staring up at the sun pondering the turn of events. Fourteen hours earlier he was being smuggled past E.U.S.N. police. Under threat of blowing up innocent hostages, Duo remained tucked in a hidden compartment. Beside him where two very big bombs. At anytime he could have made a noise, and maybe got his freedom. But at what cost? More lives for just one, it wasn't worth it. Not in his case however. In matter of fact, Duo felt that the world would benefit from his death.

What was worse is that he wasn't hidden to well. E.U.S.N. police removed everyone from the vehicle. Duo was laying under there feet hidden by rotting wooden planks. One girls foot slipped through and while helping her officer Jonny spotted him. On the verge of panic the ex 02 pilot mouthed 'Bombs, hostages, only get preventors. Lady Une, YUI.' It was a tense few moments, he could have swore the officer was going to turn him in. Then he herd footsteps above him as people came back unto the truck.

Thirty miles up the road they blew up the truck continuing by caravan. There were a few horses, but mostly camels. Occasionally a few trucks came by, but it was mainly for security reasons.

Off in the distance some started shouting. The caravan came to a slow halt. Stiffly Duo tried to rise, but paused as he saw a familiar pair of eyes peer over the side. Her name was Adeela, he met her in the truck. She was one of several woman that became his friend. Adeela felt like the tribe lost it's ways. Mixing there religion up with the last wars that came upon them. Like many other woman, she would have left by now. However, that either meant instant death, or left to fend for herself. She was in her seventies she was left trying to care for her granddaughter, Hani'ah.

"We stop, sun will be extra hot today." Adeela whispered careful no men hear her.

As if on queue the men came for the wagon. Letting himself be pulled off, he was dragged to a corner of camp. There he was chained to a post. There as no shade, the ex 02 pilot laughed and looked up at the sun.

"I could use a tan." Duo said to no one in particular.

One if the men kicked dirt at the braided haired man. With obvious disgust the man said something in a language Duo didn't understand, then spat on Duo. That's exactly what the ex 02 pilot needed more filth on him.

"Yeah, fuck you to." Duo mumbled and laid on the ground.

Disdainfully Duo noted how bad he smelt. Blood from countless injuries soaked his pants and his hair. Not to mention sweat, spit, and as much as he hated to admit it, feces. It was doubtful anyone really cared what Duo did when he was out cold. Burying his face in the dirt Duo noted how his skin began to burn. The burning sensation reminded him of thirst. The ex 02 pilot was glad he stopped feeling hunger awhile ago. Defeated Duo turned unto his back, Shinigami would take him before nightfall.

One more sharp kick in the ribs, and the ones who chained him down were gone.

--FlashBack--

The ex 02 pilot bent over a tub, as his young daughter splashed in the tub. A few more months and she'd be a year. Duo's whole life now centered around the little girl. There were no more missions, no more objectives, just Trio. As much as he would have liked, there was no chance of him becoming a Preventor. Now more then ever, he could not face those he thought as friends. Grimly Duo grinned at the baby pulling his braid.

"If you don't stop that your daddy is going to be bald." Duo teased gently pulling his braid from her hand, then hastily making a bun. "You don't want a bald daddy do you."

"NO!" Trio yelled with a giant splash.

In the other room the vid phone began to rang. Muttering curses Heero grabbed the slippery body in the tub and set her on the floor. As soon as the ex 02 pilot reached for the towel she was off. Falling back on his rump he crawled after the child. Flipping over the braided hared man crawled after his daughter.Trio squealed in delight as her daddy through a towel over her and pinned her in his arms. Hugging her tight Duo rocked her back and forth listening to her laughter.

"OH no, no streaking while daddy has a phone call." Duo groaned using the couch to stand.

Trio stuck out her tongue spit flying every where."

"Funny." Tried to look angry, as he kicked the laundry out of the way so he could reach the phone. "Yo, Maxwell here."

"Sorry for bugging you Duo, I need some metal for a big patch job. Er, and a few parts." The old man on the other side paused as he stared off to one side of the screen. "Man she's getting big."

A distorted wide grin crossed Duo's face, Trio was busy pushing on daddies face in an attempt to get down. "That she is, Hcaep, my man, if you can come pick i-"

Hcaep watched from the other side of the screen as Trio disappeared from Duo's arms. The braided haired man giving a wild but futile grab for his daughter. Standing up strait his eyes darted around the room. Guilt was clearly written all over his face. The young mans lips formed the same size O as his eyes were. Sighing deeply the old man shook his head. There was no sound from Trio so the baby must have been fine.

"You dropped her didn't you?" Hcaep asked.

Red-Handed and no possibilities of lying Duo finally responded. "Um, er. FUCK-I can run, I can hide, but I can't tell a lie."

--

"Preventors, what are you doing here?" A U.E.S.N. cop sneered are the two ex pilots seated in a jeep. "Afraid us typical cops can't search a few vehicles. You Preventors got some nerve. Harboring those fucking pilots too don't settle right with me."

Skillfully Heero suppressed the anger he felt towards the arrogant cop. Beside him Wufei's nerves snapped one by one. It was surprising he didn't burst out on the injustice of the police mans actions. That and questioning how honorable of a family Officer Dorel's came from. However, Wufei was very correct in assuming how weak this man was. Deciding Heero opened up his mouth to speak but Dorel continued.

"Tell me AGENT Yui, do YOU know who those bastard Gundam pilots are?" Dorel leaned on the jeeps door. "We might come to some understanding if you just mention some names."

"Look, even if I knew who they were I wouldn't tell you." Heero's voice held a razor like edge. "I have business not of your concern to attend to, now move."

"Sorry I can't do that..." A mischievous chuckle came from Dorel. "I have to do a full vehicle search."

"YUI!" A voice shouted across the compound.

All at once eyes focused on a skinny red-headed young boy as he ran towards the jeep. He carried a box in his hand. Across his face there was a stupid grin. On the way, he nervously made eye contact with other officers. Reaching the jeep he dropped the box on Heero's lap. Scratching his head he made breif eye contact with Dorel.

By how they interacted they could tell Dorel was in much higher standing then the young officer.

The young man began to speak. "Sorry for making you come out here."

"Jonny?" Wufei sputtered the name sounding oddly more like a greeting.

"Yeah," The face blushed red under a layer of freckles. "That's my name don't wear it out."

"You know them?" Dorel said skeptically.

"Yeah these are buddies of my brother Agent Jonny." Sheepishly he played with the sand beneath his feet. "We couldn't really decide what branch of service we wanted to go into so, I became a U.E.S.N. officer... An' well, he became a agent of the Preventors." Jonny's voice suddenly dropped. "And since there is bad mojo between Preventors and U.E.S.N. these two usually sneak packages to my brother. I'msosorry."

"Hmf," Dorel crossed his arms. "Well hurry up and get them on the way. There stinking up the place."

After Dorel walked away Wufei couldn't help but to study Jonny. He was the exact duplicate of Agent Jonny, the one who delivered the message from Lady Une. Again the young man scratched his head. It made Jonny very uncomfortable to have attention focused on him. He was best suited for the back ground, and being unnoticed.

"What you did was very brave honorable." Wufei stated. "Agent Jonny should be proud at your actions."

Shyly Jonny smile. " I am not as brave as my younger brother, and his twin."

"You are not Agent Jonny's twin." Heero made a statement.

Jonny shook his head then said, "Oh no I look nothing like him. You see how much him and his twin look alike."

"JONNY! My office NOW." Dorel voice came over some loud speakers.

"I must go," Jonny quickly departed running towards a small shack.

Heero stepped on the gas leaving the post in the dust. The jeep bounced over the unpaved road as they made there way into the desert. Deep in his heart he was thankful for the help both Jonny's gave him. For right now the ex 01 pilots heart was else where. Mostly on the man he tried to love. No, to be dead honest he still loved. Love that would never be returned, after all this Heero hoped maybe, just maybe, he could get the braided haired man's friendship back.

"We got cookies from Jonny, and quickly scribbled map." Wufei said not showing any emotion. "About twenty-eight miles up we'll find something exploded. There's something like a rocky area Jonny had circled, but that's further up. And in big letters 'There are other hostages.'" There was a small silence. "Inferior map, you think he'd learn better map making skills. Pathetic."

"Officer Jonny got the point across did he not." Heero said flat, but harsh tone.

Wufei nodded. "We should teach the Jonny's map making skills, they could come in use for missions."

Something rare happened, something once in every few years; Heero grined. "Hmn."

"... ... Heero I find you a very honorable man." Wufei began a bit hesitant. "Answer me one thing, how much do you love Duo?"

As soon as the question was asked the Jeep gave a jerk of acceleration. The ex 01 pilots knuckles turned white from gripping the steering wheel. Despite the death grip on the wheel, yet his face showed no betrayal of his emotions. The Chinese pilots inquisition cut down to the truth. What could Heero say? Yes, he loved Duo Maxwell. Fuck, how much was he betraying by his desperation to get to their buddy. Now the matter was should the Japanese man admit his feelings.

"Love makes even the strongest warriors weak." Wufei said firmly as he took a bite of a cookie. "Be careful it does not become your weakness."

"I understand." A simple, clean answer.

"Heero I think we should head to the rocky outline indicated on the map." Wufei suddenly switched subjects. "The desert will not give us much cover. Plus if this map is right, there is no way they'll be able to avoid this rocky torian. As weak as Maxwell is I think he could last a more days till they reach it. "

Weak, not physically weak, mentally weak.

Subconsciously Wufei sneered, he didn't hate Duo really. Yet, there was just something with Duo that didn't sit with well with him. Wufei still viewed most of Duo's dispositions after the war as rash .Actions born mainly out of anger and grief gave the ex 05 pilot more reason to look down on Duo. The ex 02 pilot was best compared to a woman then a warrior. Who would have thought that doctor G would choose someone to fight that wasn't worthy of it.

It was luck that it all turned out.

Closing his eyes Wufei decided it was best to save his strength till they got their destination. Heero didn't need to verbally communicate with him, for the ex 05 pilot to know the change in Heero's path. He had set the make shift map beside them so Heero could look and best guess there location with the mental images of the satalite images. 


End file.
